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Interview With Christoph Fischer

)Interview With Author Christoph Fischer

MY INTERVIEW OF CHRISTOPH FISCHER

Welcome to my ‘Seat of Honor’, Christoph. Though we’ve never met, I feel as if we’ve been friends for many years.

Your writing has reached so many of us, and, with your generous support of other authors and your active role with #ASMSG (‘Authors Social Media Support Group’), many of us know of your active and hectic life… I shall let that, your life, be my starting point:

Q – You were born in Germany near the Austrian border, a Sudeten-German, if I remember correctly. Will you sketch for us your youth and your path to writing?

A – My father was a Sudeten-German, correct. My youth was spent in Bavaria, being bored and reading plenty. I wanted more excitement than I had. I went on to become a librarian but didn’t have ambitions to write until much later in life. Working as flight attendant on long haul flights gave me a lot of time and I started writing then, more as an experiment.

Q – My ancestral history began in a hamlet in Buckinghamshire, north of London, and I’ve only visited once – quite an experience, from both an emotional and historic perspective. Care to tell us how you like living in West Wales and how you’ve come to be there?

A – Coming from a rural background in Bavaria, middle age has brought me back to that way of life, I guess. My partner is from South Wales and the choice for the exact location was influenced by the vicinity to his ailing parents.
I love living here, the people and the landscape are amazing and I have become part of the community at lightning speed thanks to the warm nature of the Welsh people.

Q – I’m delighted to have read some of your books – The Gamblers – Ludwika: A Polish Woman’s Struggle to Survive in Nazi Germany – The Luck of the Weisensteiners. Is there a special place where you do your writing? A best atmosphere for your writing?

A I like to be secluded in the office, quiet and out of the way, preferably during the early morning hours. If inspiration is missing, a walk with my dogs does wonders. However, once I’m in the middle of writing a new story, I could work almost anywhere, then I have total tunnel vision.

Q – In Ludwika and Weissensteiners there is a certain poignancy, both heart-warming and heart-breaking, somehow personal in your rendering. Is that something on which you can comment?

A – Thank you. While researching both books I was fascinated by the effect that the larger picture had on the individual. I wanted to show how far reaching those political events were in the lives of the ‘little people’.

A – Lionel Shriver’s sharp wit and surgical dissection of difficult topics has inspired me, as much as Patrick Gale led the way of including gay characters casually rather than as main topic in his books.

Q – What is your favorite music and song?

A – Cheesy European Pop; Abba and the likes. “Xanadu” is one of my favourite songs, if not the…

Q – Your favorite author and book?

A – “Shantaram” by Gregory David Roberts

Q – Okay, the really dumb questions: what is your favorite color?

A – Red

Q – And, while I’m at it, your favorite meal and junk food?

A – Vegan Goulash

Q – Aw, well, might as well, your favorite movie?

A – Casino Royale (Woody Allen)

Q – Okay, just one more for us who need to know, your favorite actor/actress?

A – Laura Linney and Ewan McGregor

Q – You are so busy with your writing, your support of other writers, so, of what are the leisure moments made?

A – “The Body In The Snow (A Bebe Bollinger Murder Mystery)” is a cozy murder mystery set in rural Wales during a snow storm. A reluctant fading singer, desperate for a comeback, gets involved in a murder investigation in her village. This all happens during the snowstorm of a century, which traps her with odd and quirky neighbours, a murdered body and a desperate detective

Q – Working on a new writing project? Tell us about it.

A – I’m currently working on the sequel to “The Healer”, my psychological thriller about a cancer patient and a faith healer. I can’t tell you too much about it without spoiling it. It is another thriller, this time set in the Caribbean and is all about trust, truth and settling scores. Characters from “The Gamblers” will also feature in it.

Q – So many writers can’t sleep. They get out of bed and write. Are you one of these insomniacs?

A – Yes

Q – Will you describe what you consider a great day?

A – A glorious morning walk with my dogs, a productive writing session, lunch with friends, a bit of gardening and playing football in the evening.

Q – Last question. I think I might know, but what is your favorite of the books you’ve written?

A – THE HEALER probably. It was my first thriller and I will always have a soft spot for it.

Thank you, Christoph, for spending time with me today. Your wide array of books offer us Yankees and other nationalities more views of the world as seen from your perspective. While entertaining, your books give readers glimpses past and present of a world not so uncommon but sharing a unity of beliefs and cultures.